Pain to Stop
by PsychGirl25
Summary: All she wanted was for the pain to stop. COMPLETE. ONESHOT.


She couldn't imagine her life with anyone else but him.

She didn't think that she would settle down.

Until she met Darryl Braxton, Brax to be precise. He always hated when anyone called him Darryl.

She wouldn't say that she was afraid of commitment. It was just that none of her relationships had worked out. Roman. Angelo. Joey. Brax.

Brax.

She never thought that she would be in the situation where she would be in love with a person that was a gang member and had criminal offenses against his name.

Maybe she was being a little harsh. The Riverboys weren't even half as bad as other gangs out there.

Falling in love with him was the best and worst thing she had ever done. It was the best thing because she found her soul mate, the one person that she thought that she would spend the rest of her life with. And then it was destroyed. By three gunshot wounds to the abdomen.

Charlie knew when the phone call came that there was something incredibly wrong. And there was. She was at the hospital straight away, by Brax's bedside, holding his hand, wishing that by some miracle, Brax would come back to her. He had to.

But he didn't. And a small part of Charlie would always hate him for it. She would hate him because he left her. He left her when he promised that he would always be there, no matter what. No matter how much she pushed him away, she knew that he would always be there, waiting for her to come back to him.

Now that was gone.

Charlie couldn't believe that a week ago, they were this happy couple that was going to move to the city together to begin their new life together.

Charlie sniffed, the tears falling even harder now. She remembered how they had to turn the life support machine off, Sid had told her that Brax was gone and he wouldn't wake up. She didn't believe him and she barricaded the room shut so no-one could get to him, no-one could hurt him. Eventually, they turned the life support machine off, Charlie, Ruby, Casey, Heath and Cheryl, all watching as the machine flat-lined.

She didn't know what she was supposed to do next. Her life was practically mapped out. Go to the city, get a new job, possibly have a baby with Brax. Now that was gone. Brax had lost his fight.

Charlie pushed herself off the sand and walked up the beach in the direction of Angelos. She knew that it would be empty, the restaurant was closed as there was no way that anyone would want to run it after what happened. It was too soon. She walked into the restaurant, nearly breaking down even more as all the memories came flooding back. So many bad memories, yet the good memories outweighed them. She walked behind the bar and grabbed three full bottles of wine and a wineglass. She sat down in a booth and drank, drank until her vision became blurry. She threw the empty bottle of wine against the wall, crying as it smashed into a zillion pieces.

"Charlie?"

Charlie looked up from her glass to see the last person she expected.

"What do you want, Heath?" She asked as she finished her wine and reached to pour another. Heath was too quick, however, grabbing the bottles and the glass before she had the chance to pour another drink.

"No more Charlie."

"You don't have the right to tell me that."

"Do you think Brax would want this? You to drink yourself into an early grave? Charlie, this is the fourth time I've caught you this week, this has to stop."

"It hurts, him being gone. I just want this pain to stop." Charlie cried. "I want to be with him again."

"I know you do, we all want him here Charlie, he never should have died," Heath paused as he searched for the right words. "You have to push through this, Brax held this family together, he chose you, and you were going to be his wife so now you're our family. And I won't let you drink yourself to death."

"I want him back, why did he have to die?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know Charlie, the universe sucks," Heath sighed. "But Buckton, I know that he wouldn't want this for you," He paused. Standing up, he offered his hand to Charlie. "Come on, let's get you home. Ruby is asking where you are. She needs you, Charlie. We all do."

"You need me?" Charlie asked, a laugh bubbling out of her throat, catching Charlie completely off guard.

"Well yeah, who else is gonna cook me eggs?" Heath teased.

"You do have Bianca for that." Charlie said, rolling her eyes.

"Between you and me, you make the best eggs. Don't tell Bi that." Heath told her.

Charlie whacked Heath on the arm before taking his hand. She stumbled slightly, and Heath caught her before she could fall.

"Come on, you need sleep."

Charlie and Heath walked into the house to see Casey and Ruby fast asleep on the couch. Ruby's head was cuddled in Casey's chest, her mouth slightly ajar. Casey's arm was slung loosely over Ruby and he was snoring.

"Aww, isn't that adorable." Heath teased. Charlie whacked him on the arm again.

"I slightly remember you and Bianca doing that the other night."

"You got me," Heath said as he led Charlie into the bedroom. As he helped Charlie get into bed, Charlie felt safe. She had a family now, a family that didn't just consist of her and Ruby. Brax had given her a family, made her a part of a caring and protective family, one that she knew that he would be watching over every moment.

And for that, she was grateful.


End file.
